These pupils and parents were fed up...

Sannicare employees are not allowed to use the showers and toilets at the Airport Industria depot.

Pupils and parents from Solomon Qatyana Primary School in Cape Town have come under fire for locking their principal and Western Cape Education Officials (WCED) in the school’s toilets. The department’s circuit manager was visiting the school when the chair of the governing body insisted that he inspect the toilets. Once they reached the toilets, things escalated.

School principal Nokwazi Mniki and WCED’s Henk Punt are reported to have walked into the toilets when the doors were locked behind them. The WCED says it wasn’t long until protesting pupils arrived, keeping the pair locked in the bathroom for almost two hours. After getting out of the toilets, Punt was further held against his will, this time in the staff room.

“Learners then arrived with posters and toyi-toyied at the toilets from 11.40am to 1.22pm when police arrived and took Mr Punt to the staff room where he was kept against his will until 3pm.”

Mniki, the school principal, says the incident still causes her emotional distress.

“I am still traumatised and disappointed by the parents and governing body actions regarding the toilets.”

The reason for the pair being locked in the bathroom stems from complaints from pupils over the schools “foul smelling” toilets. One parent spoke to the Cape Argus, they were far from happy as the school is currently made up of mobile classrooms.

“We are tired of empty promises the school has been here for about 15 years now, we don’t know what they were waiting for. In today’s meeting we don’t want any promises we will demand to get the actual date for the school building, we don’t want it to be built in 2020-2021 and we are giving them a week for the bathrooms.”

The WCED say they are implementing a program to replace schools built with “inappropriate materials.” The inspector, Punt, has since lad a criminal charge with the police.